The morning street was still quiet. Valerius moved at a comfortable pace; his hands were in his pockets like a man taking a Sunday stroll through a city he'd already decided belonged to him.
He wasn't wrong about the energy of it.
"His essence depth is considerable," Ai said quietly. "I can't fully scope it without a direct scan, but the layers I'm reading are old. Not Lilithia old, but centuries, minimum. He's learned how to compress it so it reads smaller than it is."
"He's showing me less than he has."
"That's the polite version of a threat. Like a man putting his hand near his pocket without reaching into it."
"Five years," Valerius started without preamble. "I've been operating in this city for five years. Clean setup, good infrastructure, carefully managed relationships with the SPIU and the local Silver Hand chapter. Nothing hostile, we just... don't bother each other."
